Danger Den TDX Water Block Preview

We take an in-depth look at the latest water block from Danger Den; the TDX features the same performance increasing nozzles as the RBX but improves on its design. Tested on an Athlon 64 setup we take a look at what it can do!

Introduction

Danger Den TDX water-block P4 / A64

Danger Den who recently gave us the versatile and effective RBX water-block have been busy little Bee's at their CAD/CAM workstations once again. Today we'll take a look at the newest member of the Danger Den family, the TDX. This block is quite a departure from previous DD designs, and demonstrative of the company's commitment towards cutting edge cooling solutions. While this new model shares several features which are also found in its older sibling, the RBX, Enthusiast's will be pleased with the design changes. In TDX Danger Den re-introduces their "accelerator-nozzle" technology, offering 5 inlet stream options. The design looks promising and perhaps most impressive is the announcement the TDX will be offered also in solid Silver! Today we'll take an in-depth look at the design philosophy behind the TDX, and run some cursory tests. This week a Hydor L-45 (925Gph) arrives and I'll be testing the RBX and TDX with this more powerful pump. Let's take a look at the block's interior, and its "measurements."

The block is approximately 4.5cm in width and 5.5cm in length. The most obvious difference from the RBX is its dimensions. The block is compact, possessing very little mass and not much larger then the Processor it's intended to sit upon. I believe this minimalist design is preferable over larger blocks due to some basic principles in thermodynamics. Water has about 30 times the thermal conductivity of air, and it takes about 4 times as much heat to raise the temperature of water as it does air. Heatsinks cooled by air, must be massive, because there needs to be so much more surface area over which air must be circulated. The specific heat capacity of water (heat it can hold), is over 10 times that of copper. Where mass is concerned in water block design, very little is required, and even less between the heat source and water.

Given these principles, the TDX (as should many smaller blocks IF designed correctly) will be quite effective at cooling. From a prima facie perspective, the TDX design is very straight forward. As water enters and impacts upon the primary contact zone, it is momentarily trapped by the individual cups where the resultant turbulence allows thorough heat absorption. The channels in which the cup are aligned, then keep up the flow outwards exiting the sides of these channels, and it's quickly removed, via the water block's shape or flow dynamics (seen below);

Similar to the RBX the TDX uses Danger Den's familiar accelerator-nozzle's, which allow the end-user to adjust the inlet stream form and pressure, and dispersion into the contact zone. This is where Danger Den re-introduces the versatility found in the RBX. This will certainly benefit multiple pumps, albeit high pressure low GPH, or vice versa. Seen below the TDX with Lucite A64-top removed, and the accelerator-nozzle with its corresponding ID number, is also removed. I lifted the rubber gasket on the left side to exemplify its molded fixture;